Box flap gluing device



A ril 10, 1951 M. P. NEAL BOX FLAP GLUING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledOct. 15, 1945 M. P. NEAL BOX FLAP GLUING DEVICE April 10, 1951 m ha a LEU w w 5 A E %y Filed Oct. 15, 1945 M MW A rifl 10, 1951 M. P. NEAL2,547,963

BOX FLAP GLUING DEVICE Filed Oct. 15, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 M. P. NEALBOX FLAP GLUING DEVICE April 10, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 15,1945 w ww A 10, 19511 M. P. NEAL 2547,93

' BOX FLAP GLUING DEVICE Filed 0015. 15, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 5a Z7 Z9Patented Apr. 10, 1 951 BOX FLAP GLUIN G DEVICE Morris P. Neal, Quincy,Ill., assignor to A-B-C- Packaging-v Machine Corporation, a corporation.

of Illinois Application October 15, 1945, Serial No. 622,354

16 Claims. I

This invention rel'a'tes toa packaging machine for forming boxes, or thelike, of paper, cardboard, fiberboard, and the like.

The ordinary shipping cartons of paper, pasteboard, fiberboard, and likematerials, are usually provided to theuser in a flattened form, and theuser proceeds to straighten them out with the opposite sides paralleland to glue the bottom flaps or ears. This involves considerable labor,as the average buyer of this type of container uses a considerablenumber of boxes. In order to lessen the amount of work involved informing the boxes, I' have invented an automatic packaging machine,wherein the unglued boxes are inserted into the machine and the glue isapplied to the outside surfaces of the inner ears on the bottom of thebox, and the outer ears are folded over into contact with the glued sideof the inner ears While the boxes travel through the machine. The newmachine is readily adjustable to receive boxes of all sizes, and it willoperate continuously with very little attention.

The new machinehas an important advantage in that it can be built tooccupy very small space and will be very light in weight. This isaccomplished by making the machine automatic in operation with thegluing and folding operations taking place rapidly and with very little,if any, waste motion.

The invention also includes a new apparatus for applying glue to theears of the boxes as the boxes are passed over the gluing station. Thisnew glue applying means is quite important, as it permits the use ofinexpensive glue, such as water glass, which has heretofore beendifficult to use because of its tendency to set to a glasslike solid.The glue applying means is constructed as a unit, so that it can bereadily inserted into and removed from the machine when it is desired toconvert from one size boxto another size. This is an important featurefor the additional reason that it aids in cleaning the glue applyingmeans. It'isespecially necessary to clean the glue from the machine whenwater glass is used, as ordinarily all water glassv must be removed whenthe machine is shut down for any length of time. In the present machinethis cleaning is very simple.

The invention will be described as related to the embodiment shown inthe accompanying drawings. of the drawings, Figure l is an elevation ofthe new packaging machine; Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine;Figure 3 is a vertical section, taken along line 3-4 of Fig. '2; Figure4 is a horizontal section taken along line "4-4 2 of Fig. 3; Figure 5 isa vertical section taken along line 55 of Fig. 1; Figure 6 is a planview of the glue applying apparatus Figure 7 isa vertical section takenalong line 'l----? of Fig. 6; Figure 8 is a vertical section through thefront shaping member of a machine; Figure 9 is a vertical section takenalong line 9'9 of Fig. 8; Figure 10 is a plan View showing the glueapplying roller; and, Figure 11 is a bottom view of a paper box showingthe glue pattern on the outer surfaces of the inner ears of the bottomof a box.

The packaging machine shown in the accompanying drawings includes thepackaging machine IO which is the subject of this invention and aconveyor apparatus II for conveying the boxes away from the packagingmachine. The packaging machine comprises a framework 92 supported onwheels [3. On the top of the framework there'is located an extended basemember I 4 for holding and aligning the boxes as they enter the glueapplying portion of the machine. At the end of the base member, awayfrom the machine, is located a curved slide I5 for bending the innerears on the bottom of the box into the plane of the end of the box, andthe box rests on base'member 14 with these earsturned in (Fig. 8).

In order to convey the boxes through the machine, there are provided apair of endless friction members l6, such as belts, each passing arounda pair of rollers l 1. These friction members may be rubber coatedflexible belts and are arranged parallel to each other in a horizontalplane and in vertical alignment. When a box is moved along the base l4into engagement between the belts 16, the belts immediately grasp theopposite sides of the box and move it through the machine. In order toassist in guiding the box into engagement with the belts, there areprovided curved'guide members 18, at the entrance of the belts.

As each box moves through the machine, it passes over a station whereglue is applied to the outer surfaces of the folded inner ears. The glueapplying means includes a glue reservoir l9, wherein the glue 2B ismaintained at a constant level. Within the glue reservoir I 9 there islocated a cylindrical roller 2| with its bottom portion immersed in glueand its top portion normally contacting a box passing thereover. Thereis also located within the reservoir I 9 a second roller 22 above thelevel of the glue and in contacting relationship with the first roller 2I. At the center of the first roller, there is provided a deepcircumferential groove 23, while on the second roller 22 there isprovided a circumferential raised portion 24, for engagement with thegroove. The groove 23 is provided so that glue will not be applied tothe adjacent edges of the folded ears as the box passes thereover. Theraised portion 24 on the second roller 22 is provided so that glue willnot pile up within the groove.

The surface of the second roller 22 is provided with narrowcircumferential ridges 25 separated by narrow valleys 26. Thisconstruction serves to squeeze the glue on the surface of the firstroller 2| into narrow parallel strips, as shown in Figure 10, therebyproviding more uniform application of the glue to the box. In order toprevent glue from piling up on the ends of the first roller 2| andhardening, there are provided scrapers 21 mounted within the gluereservoir |9 above the level of the glue and in contact with the ends ofthe first roller 2|. As the roller is revolved, substantially all glueis scraped from the ends of the roller.

The glue reservoir l9, first roller 2|, second roller 22, and scrapers21 are all constructed as a unit in order to permit easy insertion ofthe unit into the machine, and removal therefrom when it is desired toclean the rollers and reservoir, or when the machine is to be changed toreceive boxes of different sizes. As shown, the reservoir l9 has adepending portion 28 extending downwardly at the bottom, and thisportion has U-shaped indentations 29 so that it will rest on thetransverse parallel bars 36. The glue supply conduit 3|, leading to thebottom of the glue reservoir, is provided with a separable union 32, sothat the conduit may be easily disconnected. A gear 33 which drives thefirst roller 2| is located on the outside of the reservoir l9 and mesheswith a second gear 34, which in turn is driven by a third gear 35. Alsocontacting the second gear 34 is a fourth gear 36, which drives a fifthgear 31 attached to the second roller 22. When the union 32 on the glueconduit 3| is disconnected, the reservoir IS, with attached gears 33,34, 36 and 31, may be lifted from the machine. Then later it may bereinserted into the machine by merely lowering it into place, so thatthe second gear 34 meshes with the third gear 35. The union 32 will thenbe used to attach the two sections of the conduit 3|.

The gear 35 which drives the rollers 2| and 22 is mounted on a shaft 10.This shaft is driven by a gear 9| which is in turn driven by a chain 68passing over an idler gear 92 and to a gear 61 driven by the motor 64through a gear reducing box 65. The second roller 22 within the gluereservoir I9 is preferably driven at a faster rate than the first roller2| so as to have a wiping action thereon. This is provided by having thefifth gear 31 that is attached to the second roller :2 smaller than gear33 attached to first roller In order to provide a constant level of gluein the reservoir l9, there is mounted on the side of the machine abottle 38 in inverted position. This bottle is held in position in aglue pan 39, fastened to the side of the machine by a bracket 46, andthe opening in the bottle 38 is held above the bottom of the pan bymeans of three equally spaced supports 4|. The conduit 3| connects thebottom of the pan 39 to the bottom of the glue reservoir I9. The levelof glue in the pan 39 and the reservoir I9 is substantially the same andthe level is kept constant in the pan 39 by air enterin the bottle 38when the glue in the pan falls below the level of the bottle opening.This permits glue to escape from the bottle into the pan until the glueagain covers the bottle opening. The

bottle 38 is held in the pan by a yoke 42 contacting one side of thebottle and holding it against a curved seat 43. The yoke 42 is heldtightly against the bottle by means of a spring 44 fastened to the yokeand to the framework of the machine.

In order to provide for a tight fit betweenthe belts l6 and thecontacting sides of the box passing through the machine, there isprovided a series of rollers 45 on the side of the belts away from thepath of the boxes. These rollers are held in brackets 46 and are pressedagainst the belts by springs 41 that force the rollers towards thecenter of the machine. The springs operate on slidable rods 48, held inhorizontal position by mountings 49, with the rods carrying the ends ofthe rollers. The rods, mountings and springs are provided at each end ofthe vertical rollers.

The rollers H which carry the endless-belts l6 are arranged for movementtoward and away from each other, so as to accommodate boxes of differentsizes. This movement is caused by a crank 56 attached to a horizontalrod 5| extending through the machine. A gear 52 is mounted on this rod,near the crank, and this gear carries a chain 53, passing to the rear ofthe machine and over another gear 54, attached to a second horizontalrod 55 at the rear of the machine. The rods 5| and 55 are threaded oneach side of the center of the machine so that as the rod is turnedblocks 56 at the rear of the machine, and blocks 6| at the front of themachine, upon which the rollers H are mounted, move upward and away fromeach other. A block is provided for each roller, there being two at thefront of the machine and two at the rear. The blocks 6| at the front ofthe machine slide on a flat horizontal bar 51, while the blocks 56 atthe rear of the machine slide on a second fiat bar 58. Each block 56carries a mounting 59 for a roller l1 and has a thread engaging portion66 for engaging the threads on the rod 55. Thus, as thecrank 56 isturned, blocks 56, with the rollers |1 mounted thereon, are moved andthe threads on the rods 5| and 55 are arranged so that each pair ofrollers move towards and away from each other.

The machine is operated by means of a motor 64 that drives a gearreducing box 65. This gear box 65 has external gears 66 and 61, withdrive chains 68 and 69 operating a drive shaft 16 at the front of themachine and a second drive shaft 1| at the rear of the machine. Thefirst drive shaft 16 operates the glue applying rollers 2| and 22through gear 35. The gear 35 is movable along shaft 16, to accommodateglue reservoirs |9 of varying widths. This is accomplished by having along key-way 12 on the shaft 16 with the gear 35 slidably keyed thereto.7

The shaft 1| is for driving the rollers at the rear of the machine andthis operates right-angle gears 13 and 14, with a pair of these beingprovided for each roller H at the rear of the machine. One gear 13 iskeyed to the shaft 1|, while the second gear 14 is keyed to the shaft 59carrying the roller l1. Thus, if the shaft 1| is revolved, the pair ofrollers at the rear of the machine are also revolved. Each pair of gears13 and 14 are mounted on a block 56 and are moved along shaft 1| as theblocks 56 are moved toward and away from each other by the turning ofthe crank 56. The rollers at the front of the machine are not positivelydriven, but are merely idler rollers revolving on their shafts 63, heldby blocks 6|. 1

The, boxes travel on a central dividing plate I5, arranged verticallythrough the longitudinal center of the machine. Onfeither side of thisplate and toward the rear of the machine there are provided curvedplates 16 that are gently curved from a vertical alignment near thecenter of the machine to a horizontal alignment at the rear of themachine in order. to turn the depending ears of the box up into theplane of the bottom of the box and press these ears against the. luedsurfaces of the inner cars.

In order to hold the boxes against the glue.

applying. means as the box travels through the.

machine, there are provided between the belts IE, but placed above them,two parallel rods; 71,.

with the front of the, rods curved upwardly at the front of the machineto receive the boxes. These rods are attached to the top conveyorportion 18 of the rear conveyor machine, *II and are supported by meansof a rod 19 extending. from the front of the parallel rods TI toavertical post 80 attached to the front of the top conveyor portion I8.In order to accommodate boxes of dif ferent sizes, the parallel rods 11are movable vertically. As the conveyor machine II must accommodateboxes that emerge from the pacl aging machine [0, it has been foundadvisable to have the top conveyor portion I8 of the conveyor machinemovable with the rods II. This is accomplished by providing verticalbars BI having toothed edges forming racks 82. A small pinion gear 83meshes with each rack, and this pinion gear is mounted onthe topconveyor portion 18. The pinion gears 83 are operated by means of a rod84 with an attached worm gear 85 meshing with one pinion gear'83. Thusthe pinion and rack cause the top conveyor portion 18. and the attachedparallel rods 1'! to move upand down. The conveyor machine, which isattached to the packaging machine, conveys the boxes away from thepackaging machine and serves to hold the glued flaos pressed to eachother while the glue dries. This conveyor machine comprises a bodyportion 86, mounted on wheels 81, and has endless belts 88 and 89 forcontacting the too and bottom of the boxes, respectively. The belts areheld pressed against the boxes by rollers at.

The boxes 94 are opened out into rectangular shape and plac d on thecurved slide 15. to fold. the inner ears 95 into the plane of the bottomof the box with their adjacent edges transverse to the machine. The.boxes arranged in this position are moved. along base I l until they aregrasped by the parallel belts I6 and moved through the machine. The baseI4 stops short of the glue reservoir I9, but a small rectangular plate91 covers the front. of the reservoir and is located over the secondglue roller 22. The plate 9'! is supported on each transverse edge byhooks 98 grasping studs 99 and resting on parallel studs I00. The plate9'! is held on the studs by its weight only. As each box passes over thegluing roller 2! glue is applied in the pattern shown, in Fig. 11. Afterpassing over the gluin roller the 'box is supported on the top edge of"the dividing plate 15. This dividing plate is held at the rear of themachine and rests at its front end on the side of the glue reservoir I9.As the box continues its travel, curved plates I6 bend the outer ears 95into contact with the glued inner ears 95, and the box passeson out ofthe machine into the convoyor machine I I. The plate 15 supports theboxes in the central zone lying between the adjacent edges of the outercars 96. This zone is normally I.o cated on either side of a line downthe longitudinal; center of the box. As the gluing and formingoperations take place. rapidly the packaging machine can be built veryshort with resulting savings of space and weight. The boxes follow eachother in rapid succession through the packaging machine.

Having described my invention as. related to one embodiment of the same,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited by any of thedetails of. description, unless otherwise specified', but is rather tobe. construed broadly within its spirit and; scope, as set out in theaccompanying claims.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a glue reservoir,a substantially cylindrical roller having its bottom portion in the.glue reservoir and its top portion for contacting the surface to beglued, means for driving said roller to transfer glue from said,reservoir to said surface, a second roller rotatably contacting thefirst roller at a point in the transfer path between the glue in thereservoir and said surface, with the contact surface of the secondroller having narrow circumferential ridges separated by narrow valleysand, separate means for driving said second. roller at a rate fasterthan that of the first roller and in. a direction opposite. to that ofthe first roller.

2. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a glue reservoir,means for maintaining the glue. at a substantially constant levelin thereservoir, driven substantially cylindrical roller means in contactingrelationship to. said glue and arranged for contact with a surfacepassing thereover, and a second roller means contacting the first withthe contact surface of the second roller meansbeing narrowcircumferential ridges separated by narrow valleys, the second rollermeans being arranged for more rapid rotation than the first in order tohave a wiping action thereon.

3. Apparatus of claim 2. wherein the first. roller means is providedwith scrapers located above the level of the glue for scraping gluetherefrom.

4. Apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first roller means is provided witha circumferential groove substantially in the center of its. surface andthe second roller means is provided with an annular raised portion forengagement with said central groove.

5. Apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first roller means is provided witha circumferential groove substantially in the center of its surface andthe second roller means is provided with an annular raised portion forengagement with said central groove, said first roller means beingprovided with scrapers at the ends and above the level of the glue forscraping glue from said ends.

6. Apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first roller means is provided witha circumferential groove substantially in the center of its surface andthe second roller means is provided with an annular raised portion forengagement with said central groove, said first roller means beingprovided with scrapers at the ends and above the level of the glue forscraping glue from said ends, and with said glue reservoir having thefirst and second roller means. and the scrapers mounted therein so thatthe entire unit may be removed from and inserted into a mounting.

' '7. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a gluereservoir, a substantially cylindrical roller having its. bottom portionin the glue reservoir and" its top portion for contacting the surface tobe glued, and a second roller contacting the first with the contactsurface of the second roller being narrow circumferential ridgesseparated by narrow valleys, said first roller being provided with acircumferential groove substantially in the center of its outer surfaceand the second roller being provided with an annular raised portion forengagement with the groove.

8. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a glue reservoir,a substantially cylindrical roller having its bottom portion in the gluereservoir and its top portion for contacting the surface to be glued,and a second roller contacting the first with the contact surface of thesecond roller being narrowcircumferential ridges separated by narrowvalleys, said first roller being provided with a circumferential groovesubstantially in the center of its outer surface and the second rollerbeing provided with an annular raised portion for engagement with thegroove, said first roller being provided with scrapers at the ends forscraping glue therefrom.

9. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a glue pan, aninverted container held with its opening spaced from the bottom of thepan, a conduit leading to a glue reservoir and provided with a separablejoint near the reservoir, a first roller mounted for rotation within thereservoir and having its bottom portion normally contacting the glue andits top portion normally contacting a surface passing thereover, asecond roller mounted for rotation within the reservoir and arrangedabove the glue level with its surface contacting that ofzthe firstroller, said surface of the second roller being provided with narrowcircumferential ridges separated by narrow valleys and the first rollerbeing provided with a central circumferential groove, the second rollerbeing also provided with a raised portion on its surface for engagementwith said groove.

10. Apparatus for applying glue to a, surface comprising a glue pan, aninverted container held with its opening spaced from the bottom of thepan, a conduit leading to a glue reservoir and provided with a separablejoint near the reservoir, a first roller mounted for rotation within thereservoir and having its bottom portion normally contacting the glue andits top portion normally contacting a surface passing thereover, asecond roller mounted for rotation within the reservoir and arrangedabove the glue level with its surface contacting that of the firstroller, said surface of the second roller being provided with narrowcircumferential ridges separated by narrow valleys and the first rollerbeing provided with a. central circumferential groove, the second rollerbeing also provided with a raised portion on its surface for engagementwith said groove, and scrapers mounted in the reservoir above the gluelevel in contacting relationship with the ends of said first roller forscraping glue therefrom, said reservoir, rollers and scrapers forming aunit resting on supports so as to be easily inserted on and removed fromsaid supports.

11. Apparatus .for applying glue to a surface comprising a gluereservoir, a substantially cylindrical roller having its bottom portionin the glue reservoir and its top portion for contacting the surface tobe glued, said roller being provided with a circumferential groove, anda second roller contacting the first roller and being provided with anannular raised portion for engagement with the groove, said secondroller being. located above the normal level of glue in said reservoir.

12. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a source ofglue, a glue reservoir, a conduit extendin between said source and saidreservoir and having a separable connection therein adjacent thereservoir, a first roller mounted for rotation within the reservoir andhaving its bottom portion normally contacting the glue and its topportion normally contacting a surface passing thereover, a first shaftupon which said first roller is mounted with said shaft extending beyondone wall of said reservoir, a second roller mounted for rotation in saidreser voir and arranged above the glue level with its surface contactingthat of the first roller, a second shaft upon which said second rolleris mounted with said shaft extending beyond one wall of said reservoir,driving means operably connected to the outer end of said first shaftfor rotating the shaft and the first roller, driving means operablyconnected to the outer end of said second shaft for rotating the shaftand the second roller, a support upon which the reservoir rests bygravity only, and operating means located adjacent said reservoir andengageable with the driving means of the first and second shafts whenthe reservoir is on the support for operating said driving means, saidoperating means being automatically disengaged from the driving meanswhen the reservoir is lifted from its support.

13. Apparatus for applying glue to a surface comprising a source ofglue, a glue reservoir, a conduit extending between said source and saidreservoir and having a separable connection therein adjacent thereservoir, a first roller mounted for rotation within the reservoir andhaving its bottom portion normally contacting the glue and its topportion normally contacting a surface passing thereover, a first shaftupon which said first roller is mounted with said shaft extending beyondone wall of said reservoiua second roller mounted for rotation in saidreservoir nd arranged above the glue level with its surface contactingthat of the first roller, a second shaft upon which said second rolleris mounted with said shaft extending beyond one wall of said reservoir,a first gear on the outer end of said first shaft, a second gear on theouter end of said second shaft, a support upon which the reservoir restsby gravity only, and a driving gear located adjacent the reservoir andoperably connected to the first and second gears when the reservoir ison the support.

14. Apparatus of claim 13 wherein the surface of the first roller isprovided with a circumferential groove, and the surface of the secondroller is provided with a raised portion for engagement with saidgroove, said raised portion extending into said groove at all times to apoint beneath the top surface thereof.

15. In a packaging machine for forming paper boxes or the like whereina, box is moved along a path through the machine with at least onefiap'in glue receiving position, means for applying glue to said flapcom-prising a glue reservoir adjacent said path, means associated withsaid reservoir to receive glue therefrom and transfer the glue to saidflap, a glue pan, a conduit leading from said pan to the reservoir, aninverted container with its opening spaced from the bottom of the pan, asupport for said container, an arm rotatably attached to said support,holding means on said arm for releasably holdingsaid container'on. saidsupport, and spring means nor-i mallyrurging said holding means intoholding position.

16. In a packaging machine for forming paper boxes or the like wherein abox is moved along a path through the machine with at least one flap inglue receiving position, a glue reservoir adjacent said path, meansassociated with said reservoir to receive glue therefrom and transferthe glue to said flap, a glue pan, a conduit leading from said pan tothe reservoir, a support adjacent said pan for supporting a containerininverted substantially vertical position in said pan, said supportcontacting one side only of said container, a pair of arms rotatablyfastened to said support and located on opposite sides of said containerand carrying a cross-member for bearing against the container to hold itagainst the support, and spring means normally urging the cross-memberagainst the container.

MORRIS P. NEAL.

10 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

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